Why Can’t I watch TV Online With Friends?

Hulu with Chat

I’m busy, my friends are busy (and some even live in different time zones), but we enjoy many of the same TV shows and it would be nice if we could occasionally watch them together, on our own time. However, if you aren’t watching TV live, it’s next to impossible to sync up online. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Wouldn’t it be nice if sites like Hulu or Netflix allowed you to invite friends to watch with you. Obviously your friend or friends would also need to be a user or have an account, but then ideally it would be as simple as sending them a link to the episode you intend to watch.

Then the ‘admin’ of the viewing party could handle hitting play or pause thereby creating a synchronous viewing experience. Also, a chat box would be part of the viewing interface so that you could, you know, chat while watching.

It could look something like this:

Hulu with Chat

So what do you think fellow TV fans? Would it be more fun to turn online viewing into a group thing? Does this already exist? If so, let me know.

Comments

  1. Colleen

    I’ve often wondered this myself. I remember watching the final episodes of ER in grad school and using AIM to communicate. There has to be a better way by now!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.